Days of Our Lives Comings and Goings see the John Black (Drake Hogestyn) Death storyline, and it may stun fans. Has the NBC Peacock soap gone ahead and recast the role? We’re going to dive into a silver-haired mystery man introduced on the 31st and then fully explored on the April 1st episode. And what his presence may mean.
Days of Our Lives Comings & Goings: Steve Johnson’s Huge Discovery
On Days this week, Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols), Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall), Andrew Donovan (Colton Little), and Paul Narita (Christopher Sean) are in Estonia, hot on the heels of John Black, hoping to find him alive. But just as Steve Johnson found a file implicating Orpheus (George DelHoyo), it turns out Marlena found that same villain at her door.
Marlena got the better of Orpheus and tied him up, but then Andrew screwed up. And the guy got loose. By then, Marlena had taken off to meet Steve, while Andrew faces off with Orpheus, who gets the drop on him. But then Paul rides into the rescue. And he gets the drop on Orpheus. So, with the villain under control, we’re going to have Paul heading back over to be with Marlena and Steve and the huge discovery they made.
Silver-Haired Man Mystery: Is John Black Recast on Days of Our Lives?
Steve Johnson burst into a room at the facility they were raiding. And Marlena is there right behind him. They see a silver-haired man slumped over a desk. And she’s freaking out, asking if it’s John. So, the guy on the desk that Marlena worries is John is played by an actor we’ve not seen before. His name is Allan Wayne Anderson.
The actor Allan Wayne Anderson posted on his social media about the Days gig, saying when two days on set turned into three months of a dream job. And he said he had the most amazing time at DOOL. So when you see a guy that fits the same basic description as John Black in a place where Steve and Marlena know John was investigating Orpheus for the ISA, you got to wonder.
Fan Panic and Recasting Fears: Drake Hogestyn’s Exit Strategy on Days
Then, once photos began to circulate showing the guy’s face and him in scenes with Marlena, I saw some panic kind of breaking out on soap’s social media. People that had seen the photos were very worried that the soap has recast John Black for this death arc. We all know Drake Hogestyn signed off on all of this. Whether this is a recast of John or not, Executive Producer Ken Corday approached Drake when he decided they had to address his multi-month absence from the soap opera.
Ken had a plot written that would be the end of John Black’s run on the soap, but with wiggle room where if Drake beat the cancer and came back and wanted to work, they would bring the character back. So there was a contingency plan. And obviously, they all hoped that that would happen and that he would recover. Ken laid out the plan and the plot to Drake, who agreed. So this all filmed while the actor was still alive, so again, bear that in mind.
April Fool’s Day Twist? Unraveling the Silver-Haired Man’s Identity
Back to what’s coming April 1st on Days of Our Lives. And the fact that it’s April Fool’s Day, do not let that tempt you to think this is not real. It’s quite real. So the initial fear for Steve and Marlena of seeing an older silver-haired guy injured, you know, laying across the desk, is cause for immediate alarm. Steve finds him first. And then we’ll see Marlena is there too, but Steve kind of seems to be waving her back from the injured man. And once they show his face, I can see how fans may be worried this could be Days recasting John Black.
If you look at the scene with the three of them, though, there are signs that that’s probably not what this is. So this picture I’m going to show you, Steve’s holding the guy’s head up like at a certain angle. And Marlena is holding a phone up, so they could be showing his face to someone on a video chat, you know, maybe Andrew, maybe Shane, or it could be that Steve is holding him still, and Marlena is holding the phone up so that they can use his face to unlock the phone. This could be somebody who had been working with Orpheus. He might even be a lookalike that was trying to trick Steve and Marlena.
Comings and Goings: Allan Anderson’s Role and John Black’s Potential Funeral
However, all that said, he fits the same basic description as John Black. So in his info for the comings and goings press release stuff, he’s simply listed for now as silver-haired man. So that is not a lot to go on, but if you look in the picture at how Marlena is staring down at this guy’s face while she’s holding the phone, it’s not a look of love or affection or concern or worry.
It doesn’t look like any of the facial expressions I would expect if Marlena was looking at John. And Steve looks like he may also be speaking to somebody on the phone on Days of Our Lives. But he also doesn’t look like he’s crouching next to his best friend who is bleeding, who he’s worried about. So the looks on their faces has me thinking this is not John.
But then the actor tweeting that he was initially hired for two days but wound up working 3 months is admittedly troubling. If you remember when they filmed Doug Williams‘ (Bill Hayes) death on Days, they used a body double for Bill Hayes, but they also never showed that gentleman’s face. So this doesn’t feel like that. But in the end, as we know, bottom line, Days is going to do what Days wants to do. So we might get an announcement saying the role of John Black is temporarily being played by Allan Anderson.
Days of Our Lives: John Black Goes on?
Ken Corday promised that what they’ve done for John Black’s exit is respectful and was done with Drake Hogestyn’s knowledge and approval. So here’s another clue, though, of course, Allan Anderson said he worked for 3 months, with April being his first full episode. That means he’s appearing through June.
If that information is accurate, and June is when we have a huge pile of Days alums returning. And I’m quite certain this is going to be John Black’s funeral, just based on who is coming and how many of them we know are coming based on the timing alone. This actor could be a recast. I hope he’s not. I really hope he’s not.
But the silver-haired man has a bloody wound. There’s always the chance they bring him in, he’s John, he’s recast, but he’s shot. And then he spends weeks in a coma before passing away. I don’t know. We’ll see. And again, I’m taping this in advance of the April 1st episode. I’m sure we’re going to know a lot more after that airs. And we’ll talk about it on our early edition spoilers, which comes out on Wednesday.
